Chikkasandra Government Higher Primary school is situated in one of the internal  of Hesarughatta road, Bangalore, Karnataka. As you enter the school, you see a bunch of girls playing hopscotch in the small play area. One of these chirpy little girls is 12-year-old Kavita.

Kavita is a bright girl, her hair combed back into a neat braid and uniform tidily pressed. She says she loves the English language and that it is her favourite subject in school. In her free time, she tries speaking to herself in English, makes an effort to assess herself and gets her mistakes corrected by her teachers at a later period. Kavita’s elder sister who is 15 years of age, studies at Gangadhareshwara High School which is in the same area as Kavita’s school. Their parents work as daily-wages labourers in a nearby town.

Kavita’s activities after school are minimal. She only has to help her mother with household chores and in making dinner for the family, just like her sister does. As a self-analysis, she says the work that she does at home does not irk her since it is helping her groom into a responsible girl. She aspires to become a Manager in a Government establishment. When asked about this ambition, she says with an unexpected maturity at this age, “I would like to become a manager since it will bring me a lot of responsibility along with respect. I know what it is like to manage a place since I monitor the classroom in my teachers’ absence. Also, the Government has such good facilities for us in school that I think it’s only fair to return their efforts by joining them.”

Kavita is one of the 1.39 million Akshaya Patra beneficiaries across India. She is one of the millions who partly depend on organisations like The Akshaya Patra Foundation for a healthy living. Would you help her become a manager?